Teachers

Information of interest to teachers ...

Teachers: How to Get Started with NHD

We welcome your interest! To get started with NHD, please get in touch with the state coordinator by emailing Laura.Ketcham@ncdcr.gov or calling 919-807-7395. The coordinator can put you in touch with the district coordinator for your region and can share resources with you. If you would like someone to visit your school, either the state coordinator or the district coordinator may be able to come to your school to talk to your students or to your fellow teachers about the program.

The Teacher Toolkit offers some suggestions for starting a History Day program, including a classroom calendar, suggested steps, information about district contests, thesis worksheets, tips for improving bibliographies, and links to other resources. This is a very basic introduction that cannot take the place of the Guide sold by the national office, but it can be a good place to get started.

The National History Day in Mississippi program has developed a very useful guide to help teachers introduce their students to National History Day and guide their students' NHD project development. This 18-class framework offers suggestions and links to handouts: Framework for Teaching NHD in 18 Classes.

The national office of National History Day offers useful books for sale on such topics as how to create an exhibit, website, documentary, research paper, and performance as well as a book designed specifically to help teachers use National History Day in the classroom. A Guide to Historical Research Through the National History Day Programwas written by a team of ten veteran NHD teachers who provide their best practices in supporting student research. The book is formatted to take teachers step-by-step through a school year, from topic selection to research presentation. More information can be found by going to www.nhd.org and clicking on “Store” (http://www.nhd.org/cart).

Be sure to visit the national website, www.nhd.org, for additional teacher resources, sample student projects, tips for students, and more.

Important Note: New NHD Rule Book for 2014-15!

Please note that National History Day has revised the rule book. Your students must use this new rule book for 2014-15. Please click here for the new rule book.

Rule Verification Checklist: These helpful check-off sheets will guide your students as they review their entry to make sure they have followed NHD rules for their chosen category.

Useful Webinars on NHD Resources

Be sure to visit http://www.nhd.org/ClassroomConnection.htm to learn about upcoming programs of interest to students and teachers, such as Google Hangouts that allow students to ask questions of history professionals about how to create a strong project. (Click here for a list of December 2014 hangouts.) Visit http://www.nhd.org/Webinars.htm to watch recorded webinars on such topics as building a website on NHD Weebly, using primary sources, and more.

Sign Up for Monthly NHD Newsletter for Teachers

The national office of National History Day offers a monthly newsletter for teachers featuring resources and news. To be added to the national email list to receive newsletters and other teacher information from the national office, email Lynne O’Hara at Lynne@nhd.org.

Apply for NHD Teacher Awards

Each year, Patricia Behring sponsors the Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award, which recognizes outstanding NHD teachers. Two state winners, one at both the junior level and senior level, will be selected from each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense Schools, International Schools-Asia and the U.S. territories. The winners of the national awards will be selected from among the state awardees. Each state winner will be awarded $500 and the national winners will receive $10,000. Click here for an application.

The HISTORY™ Channel Award for Service is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to history education through service to the National History Day program. The winner receives a $5,000 cash prize. Click here for an application. Applications are due to lynne@nhd.org at the national office by May 1, 2015.

Apply for Chance to Study the Gilded Age in Chicago

The Chicago Metro History Education Center is co-directing a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute on the history of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era in Chicago July 5-31, 2015. Participants will spend four weeks in Chicago, a center of Progressive Era reform, engaging in vigorous discussions about this critical time period in American history and creating materials to use in their classrooms. Award-winning historian Robert Johnston (University of Illinois at Chicago) will guide the institute’s academic content, with the help of renowned experts in history, art, and architecture. Teachers will receive a $3,300 stipend to defray housing and travel expenses. Teachers of all grade levels and disciplines are encouraged to apply. Click here for more information. The deadline to apply is March 2, 2015.

2014-15 Theme Resource

In addition to visiting the theme resources at http://www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Themes.aspx, you may want to visit www.100leaders.org, a website that was developed by National History Day to help students and the public better understand leadership by reviewing the leadership qualities and legacies of great leaders from the past. Though this list is by no means comprehensive, it may be a good starting point to learn about some world leaders and to access lesson plans related to leadership.

NHD Debuts World War I Teaching Resource

To commemorate the centennial of World War I, NHD collaborated with HISTORY® and the World War I Centennial Commission. The partnership resulted in new resources that bring the events of World War I into a modern context. The resource begins with essays that look at World War I from various global perspectives. Master NHD teachers from around the world have written 17 high-quality, common core and C3-linked lesson plans that incorporating primary source documents that are accessible online. Most importantly, these lessons are available electronically and can be customized by the teacher to meet the needs of his or her students.

As a result of an exclusive partnership between NHD and NoodleTools, enrolled NHD teachers can provide NoodleTools to student applicants working on NHD projects. Designed by educators, NoodleTools is an online platform that promotes authentic research and original writing. Integrated tools for note-taking and outlining, source evaluation and citation support students' critical and creative thinking. Mentor-teachers can monitor student progress and provide targeted feedback.

As the selected research platform for National History Day, NoodleTools is offered without charge to NHD participants, for the specific and sole purpose of creating National History Day projects during the NHD season. Click HERE for more information and the link to sign up your school.

LESSON PLANS (in PDF format):

19th AmendmentNorth Carolinians Take a Stand on Ratification of the 19th Amendment